"It's been like this for months now. Every time I step outside, the smell hits you like a wall. It's so bad, I can't even hang my washing out or open my windows," Wilberforce resident, Logan (name changed), wrote to Hawkesbury City Council more than four years ago, their frustration palpable. Since then, little has changed. The stench from the Hypro pet food factory has pushed Logan, a Wilberforce resident of 15 years, to consider leaving their home. "I don't know what else to do. We've tried everything - complaints, petitions, you name it. No one seems to be listening."

Logan's experience is far from unique. Nearby residents continue to describe the odour as "unbearable" and "putrid," akin to "cooking dead animals." One neighbour lamented, "We can't have barbecues, our kids can't play outside," while others say the smell worsens on humid days. 

For years, locals have battled the stench, claiming the factory violates consent conditions and operates outside regulated hours, with trucks routinely arriving during restricted times. The Hawkesbury Post has sighted years of correspondence between residents, Council and Hypro management.

In June 2018, Logan wrote: "As you can see, our main concern is the smell. However, the activity down there seems to be growing with earlier start times and later finishes. You can hear semi-trailers pulling up very late at night and sometimes early in the morning. They are then accompanied by the sounds of forklifts… When we moved here, this factory didn't exist. It has been growing dramatically, producing more and more foul odours, and they are well and truly working outside normal hours."

In 2019, Logan noted: "…there is a 12/10 very foul odour. I've had to close all my back windows and sliding door as our kitchen and lounge are filling up with the bad smell." The next day, Logan wrote: "It's like déjà vu this morning. Opened my back door and guess what greeted me. Actually, my entire family has been having gut issues. I'm wondering." By 2020, Logan's patience had worn thin: "Could I please have an update on what Council has done about Hypro, if anything? The smell is horrific and more frequent, and the late-hour activities continue."

In the correspondence Council has told residents it had sought legal advice, conducted surveillance, and held discussions with Hypro, yet ongoing complaints suggest little has changed. "It would be good to know if they cook every day. Sometimes it smells like boiling dead chooks; other times it's simply a strong kibble odour," a resident said.

Frustrated by the lack of action, Logan has lodged complaints with both Hawkesbury City Council and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), only to be caught in a bureaucratic loop. "Council says it's within regulations, and the EPA says it's a council issue. I'm just passed from one to the other." "I've kept logs, sent videos, but it all leads to nothing. One time, they even lost my video." The company's senior management has told Logan that the complaints would forwarded to the compliance team, but nothing has changed.

Many residents trace the problem back to Hypro's expansion into manufacturing, shifting from packaging to full-scale production. "It started small, but then these chimneys went up, and the smell became unbearable," Logan explained. "Now they operate early and late, and it's not just the smell. The noise, lights, and trucks at all hours are a constant presence, but the smell is what drives people mad."

Despite double-glazed windows, the odour frequently invades Logan's home. "We can't even hang my laundry outside - it seeps into everything." The family lives less than a kilometre from the factory, yet relief remains elusive.

Other residents echo these complaints, with one person stating, "The smell is sometimes worse in the mornings, sometimes at night, but it's always there." Another resident, who lives near Wilberforce sports grounds, added, "On Saturdays, when there's soccer or cricket, the smell is horrendous for players and spectators. It's like the air is toxic, and you can't escape it."

When approached by the Hawkesbury Post, Hypro Industries did not respond to requests for comment about the odour complaints or concerns about operational violations. However, emails seen by the Post show that Hypro previously denied responsibility for the smell, instead blaming nearby Grange Growing Solutions.

 "When myself and another colleague approached Hypro last year with the odour concerns, they were very firm and believed it was not coming from them, alleging it was from Grange Growing Solutions. Hypro has a weather station on-site and used some of the data collected to back up their claims. With them refuting the odour is produced by their processes, any future regulatory action taken by Council will probably result in legal action from their side, which would put Council in a tricky situation," a Council officer wrote to a resident in 2020.

Council maintains that Hypro is operating within the law. "Hypro has development consent to operate their business on-site. Council has received complaints in the past about odour and truck movements, which have been investigated by Council and its partner agencies. These investigations have found Hypro is operating in compliance with the regulatory framework," a spokesperson for Hawkesbury City Council said. The EPA said it's a Council matter.

However, residents disagree and say they feel abandoned. "We've been ignored for years," one complainant said. "At this point, I just feel like nobody cares."

Despite this, Hypro wants to expand its operations, which include purchasing the nearby Woodlands Park Pony Club site. The land, valued for its high biodiversity and role as a wildlife corridor, would require rezoning for industrial use. "I would be very concerned if they build another factory or intensify their operations," said a local resident who has written to the company about the smell for two years.

The situation echoes the battle fought by residents near the Elf Farm Supplies mushroom composting factory in Mulgrave, where a "sustained campaign" led the EPA to intervene. When an odour monitor was finally deployed, it found the factory operating at 100 odour units near Hawkesbury Hospital, far exceeding the one-unit limit at the boundary.

[All residents spoken to by the Hawkesbury Post asked to have their names withheld from publication]